Chemical reactions provide fundamental means not only for the synthesis of new products but also for the internal and spontaneous spatio-temporal organization of a chemo-physical system. The objective of our research activity is to develop, by means of combined experimental and theoretical approaches, a comprehension of how chemical reactions and their coupling with transport processes (typically (cross)diffusion, dissolution and convection) can generate autonomous self-organized structures and functional behaviors like chemical oscillations, patterns and waves, as well as synchronization and collective behaviors which are at the basis of biological complexity. Such fundamental background can be exploited to design new strategies for applied problems in environmental and materials sciences. More in detail, our main current activities include the study of: - Chemical communication among self-sustained micro-oscillators, by using the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction encapsulated in microcompartments; - Spatio-temporal behaviors induced by the mutual interplay between chemical and transport processes. This kind of interaction can explain the onset of chaotic dynamics (reminiscent of the irregular patterns occurring in the heart tissue during an arrhythmia), and the spontaneous emergence of pulsatory dynamics in simple bimolecular reactions. Chemohydrodynamic mechanisms are also considered in the context of origin of life studies, self-propulsion and find possible application to geological sequestration of CO2 and remediation of underground water from dense non-aqueous phase liquids. - Oscillatory behaviors observed in the release of H2 from borohydrides hydrolysis, which is a promising process to store and release H2 on demand; - Reactive granular materials under mechanical forcing, which can provide a green pathway to chemical synthesis. In this context, we aim at developing a theoretical framework to correlate the complex dynamics of the milling bodies inside a mechanochemical reactor with related physico-chemical transformations. - Side research lines include the adaptation of nonlinear kinetics and reaction-transport models to isomorphic population dynamics.

1. N. Valletti, M.A. Budroni, P. Albanese, N. Marchettini, M. Sanchez-Dominguez, I. Lagzi, F. Rossi, Hydrodynamically-enhanced transfer of dense non-aqueous phase liquids into an aqueous reservoir, Water Research, 119608 (2023);

2. A. Polo, M. Carta, F. Delogu, M. Rustici, M.A. Budroni, Controlling nonlinear dynamics of milling bodies in mechanochemical devices driven by pendular forcing, Frontiers in Chemistry, 10, 915217 (2022);

3. M.A. Budroni, K. Torbensen, S. Ristori, A. Abou-Hassan, F. Rossi, Membrane structure drives synchronization patterns in arrays of diffusively coupled self-oscillating droplets, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 11, 2014 (2020);

4. M.A. Budroni, V. Upadhyay, L. Rongy, Making a simple chemical reaction A + B --> C oscillate by coupling to a hydrodynamic effect, Phys. Rev. Lett., 122, 244502 (2019);

5. M.A. Budroni, S. Garroni, G.R.C. Mulas, M. Rustici, Bursting dynamics in molecular hydrogen generation via sodium borohydride hydrolysis, J. Phys. Chem. C, 121, 4891 (2017).